Ender's Game Chapters 4+5

       (End of chapter 4) Gaff is talking to Anderson about Ender. They both believe that he is going to be the best commander the world has ever seen. The weight of the world if on Ender's shoulders and he's still only six. How do they know that he is the right one? He's in a way like every other kid, although he seems to be way more intelligent than the others by the way he talks and acts. His smartness and intelligence is also shown when he beats the older boys on a computer game. The first time he ever played it, the other boy won. The second time, he won but it took a little bit because he was still figuring out the game and then the third time he won quickly. It only took him one time to lose for him to figure how to win and do moves with the controller that no one has ever seen before. Ender is no normal six year old. In my opinion, I think he's not six at all. I think he's at least fourteen by the way they describe how smart he is.
        The boys that were on the same ship with Ender were all put in the same room and they gave him the  room that was supposed to be given to the leader of the room, like the commander. They didn't do it on purpose though. They really meant to give him the worst room since it was a lower bunk and by the door. The boys don't really like Ender at this moment. To them, he's a showoff, a danger, and a teacher's pet. He was "the best of the best" and they didn't like it. They all want to be commanders too, but they're only six years old so they think everything is a game to them and they all want to have fun and win, and definitely make sure that Ender loses. Little do they know that they are helping him become smarter and more able to figure things out on his own. They also help him make true friends.
        T

Little Brother Chapter 4 + 5

Little Brother

            (Chapter 4+5) Cruel punishment is placed on Marcus and the cruel punishment such as the no bathroom breaks, the plastic cuffs, the messing with his head, all violated rules of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights states that you have the right to have a lawyer, which the lady with the bad haircut wouldn’t let him have one, he couldn’t speak without permission, he was kept in a cell with no real evidence to support that he was the terrorist in the first place, and most importantly, he wasn’t free. He wasn’t sentenced to jail, he was kidnapped and kept there against his will and they threatened him which violates the Bill of Rights. They were supposed to be from the U.S. government, but how could they if they were violating the very rules they stand by and protect? They were doing those cruel things to teenagers, which really goes against the rules. They had no solid evidence that he did it, yet they still made him go through what they did to him and still threatened him that they would be watching him all the time and they he was kind of like a wanted man now. He would always be suspicious to the government if he was in an area where something major happened.

            I also wonder about Daryll. He wasn’t imprisoned with Joyl, Van, and Marcus. He also didn’t become free along with the rest of his friends. Well they weren’t really free since the government was watching their every move. But Daryll wasn’t seen again since they were kidnapped by the government. He was also wounded. I believe that Daryll is dead. He was wounded and the government agents thought they were terrorists so they probably didn’t care since they just assumed that they were the terrorists. From the blood loss and the government thinking that the teenagers were terrorists, I believe that they ended Daryll’s pain, or just left him there to die. If he was left there, he would have been killed anyways because of the bomb on BART and how many people were drowned.

            So far the book is pretty interesting. It’s a bit confusing at first, but they when you read it over again you understand it a little better. I also think that Marcus should act a little bit more like a seventeen year old. Most seventeen year olds don’t cry when they get frustrated. They think it through. The other characters in the book seem ok to me. I also think that Van and Marcus are eventually going to start liking each other. It’s hard not to bond closer to someone when you get into a situation like the characters in the book got into, but I don’t think anyone is ever going to get in a position like them.  I wouldn’t know if our government is really that cruel or not to its citizens even if they are supposedly terrorists. I honestly don’t know a thing about how our government really treats people when confronted with them alone. It’s never happened to me before, and I really hope I don’t have to meet a government agent for something bad.

Ender's Game chapters 3 + 4

This post will be all of Ender’s Game since my computer isn’t cooperating with me to open up the file for Little Brother

Ender’s Game

                Chapter 3 is very interesting. Colonel Gaff comes to tell Ender that he has passed and is accepted into the Battle School where he would train to become a commander. I don’t like the ways that Gaff used to make Ender want to come with him. He told Ender that his parents really didn’t love him and that he was just a burden to them. We don’t know if that was true or not, but every parent loves their child to some degree. Valentine is the one Ender would miss the most. Valentine is the only one who really cares for Ender very deeply. She loves him and he loves her. I think it’s sweet and nice of her. Peter hates Ender, so it seems reasonable for her to love him to balance out the love and hate in the book.

                In chapter 4, Ender is launched to the new school. Ender is very smart. We can tell because he notices the officers on the launch watching them and analyzing them. He also knew that running to the cameraman when he was getting onto the spaceship to say goodbye to Valentine would be a bad idea. He also knew some things about null gravity and that you can be in whatever direction you want to be in. There’s no such thing as up or down. Gaff made it clear to the other boys that he thought Ender was the best student out of all of them; so obviously, the other boys disliked him for it. They are secretly jealous of Ender. This school was a major thing for boys to go to back on Earth. They are the future of the Earth’s future. These boys will be trained to help save the earth and they were specially selected to be trained. Ender also has his moments when he hates himself. He hates to cause other people pain like the boy he flung over his seat who crashed into the wall and broke his arm. Ender doesn’t mean to hurt people and he feels as if he was Peter who caused pain to people on purpose. Ender was afraid of Peter and he was more afraid of turning into Peter himself.

Chapter 2 for both books and chapter 3 for Little Brother

Little Brother

                I wonder what happens when you put a book in the microwave, like the actually book. Would the pages shrivel? I personally would never try; I love my books too much. I also don’t think it’s a good idea to put a book in the microwave, especially when they’re metal in it for the tracking device in it. Putting anything metal in a microwave is dangerous. The object inside could explode or the microwave itself could break. The explosion in chapter was somewhat of a surprise. I already knew something was going to happen, but from chapter 2, there is no indication of who did it, much less where.

                In chapter 3, a mob happens. The mob in this chapter is one of the worst kinds of mobs you could have. People suffocate from lack of air and if you fall or trip to the ground, you’re most likely to be trampled to death. Mobs like this have happened though here in the U.S. and around the world. Many people have died from them and it’s sad to see that no one will stop and help those who fall. It also wasn’t nice that the police and ambulances didn’t stop when then saw Daryll bleeding to death on the side of the road with Marcus, Van, and the other guy. In real life, someone would have stopped and helped them. The treatment to Marcus and his friends when they were abducted wasn’t too great either. I didn’t know that the U.S. treated people like that and I’m not too sure if they do or not. I assume that they wouldn’t, but they could be some hatred and mistreatment.

Ender’s Game

                This is when we are truly introduced to Peter. Peter is the exact opposite of Ender. He enjoys causing pain to other people, especially to Ender. Ender is a third, which means that he isn’t very important and is considered a burden to his family while Peter is a first so he’s more important. It’s like a hierarchy. Firsts are the rulers, seconds are the merchants and such (important people), and thirds and lower are the common people. Peter also likes to tell people that he’ll kill them one day. Valentine seems to be one of Ender’s only friends and she protects him from Peter. Peter doesn’t want to kill Valentine, but he doesn’t like her too much either. Near the end of chapter 2, Peter tells Ender that he is sorry and that he loves him. I believe that he was lying because he never liked Ender and he plots to kill him. I don’t think Ender believes him either.

                Chapter 3 news will be in next blog post.

Chapter 1 fopr both books

Little Brother

                In the first chapter, we are introduced to Marcus Yarrow, who is also known as w1n5t0n. It is interesting that he has that name w1n5t0n. We right now, have security numbers, but they have a security number and another name.  That reminds me of the Jews. Each Jew had their own number tag that they were called by and not their real names. Prisons do the same. The criminals are given numbers and letters which they are to be called. At the school where Marcus goes, there are cameras and tracking devices that watch their every move. No place is safe essentially. The school in the book is like a prison too because they have cameras watching them. The cameras in the book are actually calculating a person’s gait on how they walk and identify the person. Prisons don’t have this type of camera. The library books in the book also have tracking devices on them to track where the book goes and if it tracks the book, it can track the person who has the book. Some libraries today have this kind of tracking device in them.

Ender’s Game

                In the beginning there is a little conversation going on between two mysterious people who we don’t know. I believe that they are humans since they talk about the buggers and a boy saving the world. There was also a monitor on Ender’s neck. The monitor was to track everything Ender thought, saw, did, heard, everything. I wouldn’t want something like that on me. My life is my own and I like my privacy. It was a good first chapter in this book. It showed the relationship between Peter and Ender a little bit too. Ender also has some ninja skills. He seems strong for a kid his age. You wouldn’t think he could beat up some bullies that were older than him, but he did. Ender has a lot of determination and courage to stand up to a bully and I admire those skills he possesses.

Both

                Both books are fairly similar so far. They both have cameras and tracking things watching them. I wouldn’t want anyone watching me like that. It’s plain creepy if you think about it. Imagine having to secrets. Nothing would ever be truly yours to know and everything you would want to keep secret wouldn’t be one. There would be no such thing as privacy and we wouldn’t have that luxury anymore.  Another similarity between the books is that both Ender and Marcus are popular to the authorities of their school and they both have an interest in technology.

Reflection on the last part of the movie compared to the book and the movie in general

I kind of figured. I just don’t get why they can’t add all of the details from a book. It’ll cost more money, but if it has all the details and it’s a popular book, the movie will make a lot of money and profit. I know I would go see that movie. And I couldn’t really compare the trial scenes since I wasn’t there to actually see them.

                The movie part that we saw today was mainly on the last main part of it, which was the fight scene with Scout, Jem, Mr. Ewell, and Boo Radley. The ham suit that Scout was wearing was a bit different than the description in the book and how it saved Scout’s life and was used as evidence. The ham costume in the book was made of wire, paint, and a sheet. The costume also had a sheen on it that was supposed to be like glaze. In the movie, it looked like it was made from plaster, and there was no sheen to it. The sheen on the ham plays a part on the book because it showed Mr. Ewell where they were. The ham also saved Scout’s life when she got pushes over. Scout also wasn’t supposed to see much of the fight at all. She was supposed to see the end of it. In the movie, she saw the whole part when Boo Radley fought off Mr. Ewell.

                The one thing I don’t really understand is how Boo managed to fight off Mr. Ewell. Mr. Ewell has been working and Boo has been locked up in a house for his whole practically life. In real life, wouldn’t Mr. Ewell win? I thought it was a good idea for Boo of all people to come to Jem and Scout’s aid when they needed it. It was a good way to end the book and the movie.

                Boo Radley in the movie was exactly how I pictured him from the book. He was paler than the other characters, he tended to stay in the darkness, and he didn’t speak. In the book he did speak, and I think they should have made him speak that one line because it showed how vulnerable and weak he was. Boo was like a child. Scout acted like the adult he was supposed to be because she assured him what was ok and where to go and she held onto his hand and was kind to him. She was very polite and you could see that there was a special connection between them.

                The movie skipped the pageant part of the book where Scout acted as the ham. On the way home, they didn’t take the sidewalk, they took some path through a wooded area and that was pretty creeper and I liked that because it added to the creepiness of something or someone following them.

                To be honest, the movie wasn’t the greatest, but it was ok. The movie as a whole was pretty good. It left out some important things from the book, but it got rid of the things that weren’t needed as much so they could focus on the more important parts in the book. The bloack and white showed the age of both the film and the movie, which I thought was pretty cool. All in all, it was a pretty good movie. I wouldn't mind watching it again.

Reflection on To Kill a Mockingbird Movie

The movie on To Kill a Mockingbird was, but wasn’t much like the book. The characters in the movie were nothing like how I imagined then in my head when I read the book. I imagined Scout to have braids in her hair, overalls, and intelligent. But the Scout in movie looked to young, and if she was wearing her overalls, she looked like a boy and not a girl. Scout was supposed to act like a boy, not look like one. Although I did think Jem’s character looked all right, but he still looked a bit too young. Dill was nothing like how I imagined him. Dill was pretty ugly, no offense to him, but Scout was supposed to be a bit attracted to him because they were “married” and in the movie she didn’t seem to attracted to him and I don’t blame her. Atticus was what I imagined him to be. The actor who played him was a good actor. He acted just like Atticus would react.

Something about the movie that bothered me was how the aging was different. Scout and Jem were supposed to age a couple years and Jem was supposed to be at a more mature level by the time the trial of Tom Robinson happened. Instead, they didn’t age at all and were still at that young age. So these young kids were in a courthouse at it looks like the age of 6-10ish and they were talking about rape. I don’t think kids at that age should be allowed in a situation like that.

They also skipped a couple scenes from the book that was important. They skipped the scene where Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire. That was an important scene because Boo came out and put a blanket on Scout. When Boo left things in the tree for Scout and Jem in the book, Scout and Jem were always together when they found the surprises. In the movie, Scout was only present for one of them. Another scene that was n the book, but not in the movie, was when Scout and Jem went to Cal’s church meeting on Sunday.

The book, in my case, was better than the movie. I have yet to see a movie that has as all the details from a book, and until then, I will always like the book better. But the faults above make me not enjoy the movie as much as I liked the book. I didn’t really like how it was in black and white, but I liked it a bit because it shows the age of both the movie and the book. The book was set in the early mid 1900’s and that was a while ago, so the movie shows how old the book really is.